As many of you are aware, some of the ferrets from the Utah Rescue may
have been exposed to ADV while in transit to a shelter in Florida.  This
is a very sad situation, indeed.
 
My purpose in writing this is not to blame or point any fingers.  Although
I do not know all the details, I assume that the possible ADV exposure was
not discovered until after the fact.  I have the greatest respect for the
people that were helping with this rescue, and their intentions.
 
My purpose is to again urge everyone to test your ferrets for ADV.  Until
a ferret is tested, you can not know whether or not it has ADV.
 
Ferrets should not be transported across the country, or even across town
until their ADV status is known.  Ferrets should not be taken into homes
where other ferrets live unless the ADV status of all ferrets involved is
known.
 
Right now, the only way to stop this disease is to find the animals
that are positive, and restrict their contact to ferrets that are not
positive.  I am not trying to create a panic, just to get everyone to act
responsibly.  If you think your ferrets are safe because ADV is not in the
area where you live, think again.  ADV is out there, and if there are no
positive ferrets reported in your part of the country, it is probably
because no one has tested, or because the ones that have positive ferrets
have not spoken up.  Many people that have positive ferrets prefer to not
make public statements, and as long as they take precautions so they do
not infect other people's ferrets, that is fine.
 
There is no excuse for not testing.  You no longer have to have your vet
do the test.  Ferrets can now be tested without drawing blood.  There are
options for collecting the sample yourself and sending it in for testing,
and even test kits so you can run the test at home.  If you have a large
number of ferrets, the cost of testing is not cheap, but it is a lot
cheaper then the cost of having infected ferrets.
 
Shelters that take in ferrets without knowing their ADV status are playing
with fire.  All shelters should begin a rigorous testing program, and
use the Quicktest on all incoming ferrets before letting them into the
shelter.  We can not afford for our fragile ferret shelter network to
collapse due to exposure.
 
Everyone, please, take this seriously.  TEST YOUR FERRETS.
 
Thank you.
Danee DeVore
[Posted in FML issue 3548]